


The Truth About Forever

by orphan_account



Category: Infernal Devices - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/M, Future, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-19
Updated: 2012-02-19
Packaged: 2017-10-31 10:20:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/342933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set between 'City of Ashes' and 'City of Glass.' In the year 2007, Tessa Gray, convinced she is being haunted, calls upon a very old friend for help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Truth About Forever

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this after seeing something on Tumblr about future!fic involving Tessa and the ghosts of Will and Jem. I know it's kind of odd, but the idea grabbed me and wouldn't let go and until I wrote something! 
> 
> Title borrowed from Sarah Dessen's 2004 novel of the same name. I thought it was kind of fitting here.

1.

 

The thick metal door creaked open, revealing a tired-looking Magnus Bane. His eyes were bleary, as if he'd just woken up — despite it being only seven o'clock in the evening — and he was dressed in nothing but a pair of striped blue pyjama bottoms and a pink feather boa.

Tessa beamed at the familiar sight of him and exhaled a breath of relief. "Magnus," she said, nervously twisting her hands. "I was hoping you'd be home."

Magnus' expression slowly changed as he fixed his gaze upon the girl on his doorstep. Hand still gripping the door-handle, he straightened and cocked his head to one side. "Tessa?" he asked in a whisper, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. "What ... My God, what are you doing here?"

Tessa smiled at him. She'd been anticipating an awkward reunion, filled with questions she wasn't quite sure how to answer — after all, it had been almost three decades since she'd last seen Magnus, one of her very oldest friends — but she didn't have time to waste on catching up or idle chit-chat. "Magnus, I ... I'm here because I need your help," she blurted by way of response. Biting her lip, she added, "And I know it's been a ridiculous amount of time since we saw one another last but I'm hoping you'll forgive me long enough to help me. You see, I've been having some, er ... some _difficulties_ lately; and if anyone can help, I know it's you." She held her breath while she waited for him to answer.

"Of course," Magnus said, at once allaying her fears; his expression was totally earnest. "Of course, Tessa. Anything." His answer warmed Tessa more than she knew how to express.

Magnus looked her up and down and a slow smile formed on his lips. "I can't tell you how good it is to you see you, my Tessa. Please, do come in. I daresay we have quite a bit of catching-up to do." He stood back against the door to allow her entry, and the emotion in his face caused a small lump to grow at the back of Tessa's throat. She regretted the amount of time she'd allowed to pass without visiting Magnus; writing to him; checking up on him, even. But, she supposed, thus was the nature of eternity. Being immortal, time meant something very different to both of them. Magnus had taught her that.

Once inside Magnus' loft (the place was near-empty of furniture and somehow managed to put Tessa in mind of a ballet studio — scrubbed wooden floors; floor to ceiling windows, which were smeared with a film of patchy dark paint, and a high, arched ceiling), Tessa turned to Magnus with a small smile and laid a hand upon his arm. "I would have come sooner, you know; but it took me longer than usual to track you down. Something tells me the last few years have been somewhat remarkable for you..."

For quite a while now, Downworld had been abuzz with rumours about the once-neutral Magnus Bane falling in with the New York Shadowhunters; becoming a formidable ally with them against Valentine; though Tessa had never set much store in rumours. Besides, the answering smile on Magnus' face told Tessa all she needed to know. Her friend, though unchanged in appearance, had a radically different aura about him — something had changed within him and the difference was palpable.

"Enough of that," Magnus said, brushing her hand away, and proceeded to take her in his long arms instead. "I haven't seen you since Van Halen in nineteen-eighty-six; I think we can do away with all that tiresome Victorian propriety for now, don't you?" he teased.

Her cheek pressed to his bare chest, Tessa stood there somewhat awkwardly for a moment before she relaxed into the embrace and looped her arms around Magnus' waist. "You're right," she agreed with a smile, and closed her eyes. She only wished her unexpected visit denoted something slightly more pleasant than it did. She'd forgotten how it felt to be in Magnus' prescence: bittersweet — he was the last remaining thread tying her to her past — and yet peaceful as a day in Spring; like _home_.

"Magnus, we've run out of tea again," announced a loud, unfamiliar male voice. "What have I told you about staying on top of the grocery shopping? Honest to goodness, are you trying to get me to move out? Because if you are, you aren't being terribly subtle about it. And—" the strange voice abruptly paused. "Magnus, why are you _cuddling_ with a strange woman?"

Tessa stiffened and let go of Magnus at once. She stared at him instead and waited for the inevitable explanation.

Magnus scratched the back of head and, turning toward the direction of the interruption, said, "We weren't _cuddling_ , Alec, we were simply having ourselves a heartfelt reunion; many thanks for interrupting." He cleared his throat. "Alec, this is ... this is Tessa. Tessa, this is my boyfriend, Alec Lightwood. Yes, yes, he's Nephilim, though I promise you he won't bite … Not unless you ask him nicely, of course.”

The sound of something smashing resounded throughout the apartment.

Startled, Tessa turned around and saw a young man no older than twenty gaping at them from across the room; his mouth was hanging open in surprise, the shattered remnants of a china teacup at his bare feet. He too was dressed in nothing but a pair of pyjama bottoms, though he lacked a feather boa. "Tessa?" he repeated in a whisper. "Tessa _Gray_?"

It took Tessa longer than usual to find her voice. The boy's appearance — his tousled black hair and piercing dark-blue eyes — unsettled her, though she refused to pause and analyse why. Forcing herself to smile, she approached the young man, hand outstretched, and said, "I take it my reputation precedes me; Magnus always _was_ a bit of a gossip. Anyhow, it's lovely to meet you, Alec." The boy took her hand and shook it gently. Vaguely, Tessa wondered whether the handsome young man standing before her had anything to do with Magnus defecting to the side of the Shadowhunters... He'd always been a hopeless romantic.

“I... Magnus has told me so much about you,” the boy confessed; his cheeks were flushed, palms sweaty. “I never thought I'd actually get the chance to meet you, though... This … this is _incredible_...”

“Alexander,” Magnus cut in gently, “would you mind giving Tessa and I a moment alone?” Alec looked at Magnus as if he'd only just realised he was there and promptly dropped Tessa's hand. “Of course, of course," he muttered. "I'm sorry.” He stared at Tessa for another few moments before shaking his head and disappearing into what Tessa presumed was the bedroom he shared with Magnus; the door slammed closed behind him slightly harder than was prudent.

“Is he upset?” Tessa asked, rounding on Magnus. “I'm so sorry if I've caused a bother for you, I—”

Magnus quelled her with a look. “Nonsense,” he told her, “you haven't caused a thing. I imagine Alec feels a bit left out is all — he's heard all about you and I think he's a bit of a fan, to be honest — but there'll be time for all of that later, yes? I get the feeling you'd prefer to tell me whatever it is you need to tell me without delay.”

Tessa let out a breath. “You're right,” she admitted, feeling her nerves kick into full-gear. “Thank you, Magnus.” She was relieved beyond measure that Magnus hadn't changed in any way that mattered — he was still the kindest person she knew, and even with the decades that had lapsed without seeing one another, the truest friend she'd ever have.

Magnus gestured for her to sit in a red armchair by the window; he sat down opposite her, folded his slender hands in his lap, and studied her with narrowed eyes. “Do you want to tell me about this … _problem_ you've been having?”

Tessa sucked in a huge breath. “I think I'm being haunted.” The words tumbled out all at once, something for which she was grateful. She knew how silly she sounded, but if anyone was going to believe her, to trust her judgement, it was Magnus. “In fact, I'm sure of it.”

Magnus blinked. “Haunted,” he repeated, shifting in his seat.

Tessa nodded. “It's been going on for months now. At first I ignored it; I was sure I was simply going peculiar — you _did_ once tell me that tends to happen after your first century or so — but there's no other explanation for it. My apartment's as cold as a freezer; the television set turns itself on and off; the lights constantly flicker; my cats won't stop yowling at thin air; I'm seeing shadowy figures everywhere I turn, only they disappear the moment I look at them directly; and I can hear voices, too; all the time.

“I can't make out what they're saying, but it's almost as if someone's trying to _shout_ at me underwater.” She looked down at her hands and saw they were trembling. She sniffled a little and quickly wiped her eyes. “I'm sure you must think I'm insane, Magnus,” she said with a little laugh, “but I've run all the usual tests and everything's come up negative — no demons, no poltergeists, no curses. I didn't know what to do and that's why I came here. To you.” She looked up at Magnus and was startled to find the man had gone very pale. “Magnus,” she said, slightly alarmed, “whatever's the matter?”

Magnus shook his head. “Nothing,” he assured her. “I was just thinking.” He got to his feet, looking as if he was about to say something; but at the last moment he appeared to think better of it. He departed the room then, leaving Tessa sitting there confused, before returning a short while later with an armful of dusty old books. He sat back down in his chair, dropped the books at his feet, and proceeded to sift through them one by one. He muttered to himself intermittently, and Tessa watched him work with open curiosity.

Looking up at her, Magnus narrowed his eyes and asked, “Are the disturbances isolated to your apartment or do you they follow you around?”

Tessa grimaced. “They follow me around,” she admitted, shifting uncomfortably. She batted the empty air by her right ear — even though all the doors and windows were closed, there was an icy gust blowing onto her face. “I can feel them most of the time. Right now, as it happens.”

Magnus' eyes widened. “I see.” He rubbed his hands over his face and appeared to think very hard for a moment. “And you think they're ghosts?”

“That's my best guess, yes.”

“Well,” said Magnus, “there's only one way to find out for sure.”

“There is?” Tentative hope burgeoned inside Tessa's chest. The thought of being able to live her life freely again was more than she'd dared to hope for. “What do I have to do?” she asked eagerly.

Magnus leaned back in his chair, arms splayed out, palms up, and fixed his eyes upon the grimy ceiling. “You'll have to meet me at Green-Wood Cemetery at eleven o'clock, Thursday evening.”

TBC


End file.
